| Tournament details | |
|---|---|
| Host country | England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales |
| Dates | 29 February – 4 April 1896 |
| Teams | 4 |
| Final positions | |
| Champions |  Scotland (8th title) |
| Runners-up |  England |
| Tournament statistics | |
| Matches played | 6 |
| Goals scored | 32 (5.33 per match) |
| Top scorer(s) | Steve Bloomer (6 goals) |
The 1895–96 British Home Championship was an edition of the annual international football tournament played between the British Home Nations. Despite England achieving an almost record 9–1 victory over Wales, the trophy was won by Scotland who won two and drew one of their matches, the draw coming in a hard-fought duel with Ireland.
Wales and Ireland kicked off the tournament with the Welsh heavily defeating the Irish in Wrexham. England too beat the Irish in their opening game, although by a smaller scoreline and England then achieved their 9–1 victory over Wales with Steve Bloomer scoring five, an England record. Scotland too beat Wales, scoring four without reply before being held by the Irish in an exciting and close match.
In the final game at Celtic Park, England and Scotland played for the trophy, England only needing a draw whilst the Scots required a win to take the tournament. To improve their chances, Scotland decided to select England-based players for the first time, holding a selection trial between their 'Home' and 'Anglo' players[1][2] which became an annual event for the next 30 years. In a close and dramatic game, Scotland narrowly beat the English 2–1 and won the championship. The decisive Scotland v England match, watched by a crowd of 60,000, generated receipts of £3,640, a world record at the time for a football match.[3][4][5]
Table
| Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Scotland (C)
|
3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 9 | 4 | +5 | 5 |
| England
|
3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 12 | 3 | +9 | 4 |
 Wales
|
3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 7 | 14 | −7 | 2 |
 Ireland
|
3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 11 | −7 | 1 |
Rules for classification: 1) points. The points system worked as follows: 2 points for a win and 1 point for a draw.
(C) Champions
Results
Winning squad
| Name | Apps/Goals by opponent | Total | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 WAL[8] |
IRE[9] |
ENG[10] |
Apps | Goals | |
| Bob McColl | 1 | 1/2 | 2 | 2 | |
| William Lambie | 1 | 1/1 | 2 | 1 | |
| James Blessington | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | |
| Jock Drummond | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | |
| Neilly Gibson | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | |
| George Hogg | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | |
| Alex King | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | |
| Bobby Neill | 1/2 | 1 | 2 | ||
| Jack Bell | 1/1 | 1 | 1 | ||
| Pat Murray | 1/1 | 1 | 1 | ||
| Sandy Keillor | 1/1 | 1 | 1 | ||
| Daniel Paton | 1/1 | 1 | 1 | ||
| Tom Brandon | 1 | 1 | 0 | ||
| Jimmy Cowan | 1 | 1 | 0 | ||
| Ned Doig | 1 | 1 | 0 | ||
| Thomas Hyslop | 1 | 1 | 0 | ||
| Kenneth Anderson | 1 | 1 | 0 | ||
| John Cameron | 1 | 1 | 0 | ||
| James Kelly | 1 | 1 | 0 | ||
| Peter Meehan | 1 | 1 | 0 | ||
| William Blair | 1 | 1 | 0 | ||
| John Gillespie | 1 | 1 | 0 | ||
| Robert Glen | 1 | 1 | 0 | ||
| Rab Macfarlane | 1 | 1 | 0 | ||
| Duncan McLean | 1 | 1 | 0 | ||
| William Thomson | 1 | 1 | 0 | ||
Notes
- ^ Sport and the Working Class in Modern Britain, edited by Richard Holt; Manchester University Press, 1990, ISBN 9780719026508
- ^ Football. International Trial Matches., The Glasgow Herald, 26 March 1896
- ^ "Football: Scotland v. England". The Star. Guernsey: 2. 9 April 1896.
- ^ Sat 4 Apr 1896 Scotland 2 England 1, London Hearts Supporters Club
- ^ Chapter XXIV —Queen's Park and International Games, History of the Queen's Park Football Club 1867 - 1917; Richard Robinson, 1920, via Electric Scotland
- ^ Reyes, Macario; Morrison, Neil (1 October 1999). "British Home Championship 1884–1899". The Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. Retrieved 17 August 2019.
- ^ "British Championships 1896". Scotland Football Stats. Retrieved 6 October 2022.
- ^ Sat 21 Mar 1896 Scotland 4 Wales 0, London Hearts Supporters Club
- ^ Sat 28 Mar 1896 Ireland 3 Scotland 3, London Hearts Supporters Club
- ^ Sat 04 Apr 1896 Scotland 2 England 1, London Hearts Supporters Club
References
- Guy Oliver (1992). The Guinness Record of World Soccer. Guinness. ISBN 0-85112-954-4.
